Eric Staal’s role with the Sabres is getting a lot bigger, and Buffalo wants every bit of it.
What began as a quiet first year in the organization has turned into something much more hands-on for the longtime NHL center, who was hired in May 2025 as a special assistant to the general manager. Staal, who spent 32 games with Buffalo in 2020-21, was brought in by former front-office leader Kevyn Adams, but there wasn’t the same built-in connection to current GM Jarmo Kekalainen when the offseason arrived. That made his status a little less certain at first.
Now, though, Kekalainen has asked Staal to get more involved in the day-to-day work in a quasi-coaching capacity. He’s been around training camp ice, with his focus centered on the power play and faceoffs.
“It’s been really good to be honest,” Staal said. “Luckily for me, I have a previous relationship with [Tage Thompson] and [Rasmus Dahlin].
I was here, albeit briefly, but I was here with those guys - it was COVID, it didn’t feel like real life - but I do have a relationship with those guys. And now, to have seen them grow since that time to where they are now is really cool for me.
"... This team is fun to be around.
They're super talented. There's steps that have been taken and more steps need to be taken.
It's cool to kind of give input, give insight, just be a teeny bit of any help I can and hopefully they can keep taking steps. So, I've enjoyed it."
Staal also said he won’t be around the club on a full-time basis through the 2026-27 season, but he’ll still be available from back home when needed.
“Yeah, I'll be kinda be in and out here for sure this next two months,” Staal said. “Probably a lot early in the season.
The trip out west I'll be with the guys the whole time. And then once we get to kind of mid-November it'll be a little bit less.
I'll try to be in and out, and then obviously helping from afar as much as I can. I'll be watching all the games.
By that time, hopefully all the guys have my number and can reach out any time if they have anything that they want to bounce off me. Just kind of a resource for everybody and do my best to just be a little part to help keep moving the needle.”
Buffalo opens the regular season Oct. 1 on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the West Coast swing comes Oct. 27 through Oct. 31.
Head coach Lindy Ruff said last week that the setup was designed with a specific purpose in mind.
“He's going to help us with centermen, and he's going to help out on the power play,” Ruff told reporters last week. “He's basically an assistant coach, like consultant-type deal.”
Ruff added: “He won't be here daily, but he's going to be here for a good part of every month, and it's going to be an area he's excited with helping out.”
That makes Staal a natural resource for a young center group that includes Peyton Krebs, Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius. Some of those players may spend time on the wing this season, but each has a center background and could end up back in the middle down the line.
Faceoffs are also an obvious place for Staal to leave his mark. That includes Tage Thompson, Buffalo’s top-line center, and a team that ranked last in the NHL in faceoff percentage at 45.9% last season. The number dipped slightly to 45.7% during the playoff run.
The importance of faceoffs remains a live debate in some corners of the NHL stats world - Brian Duff and Marty Biron even leaned into that discussion on Sabres Live, with Biron holding up a sign that read “faceoffs only matter when they matter” during Staal’s appearance - but Buffalo still knows those draws can matter in the right moments.
Winning a key faceoff to start a power play or to get a clean puck in the defensive zone late in a tight game can make life easier for a coaching staff. Even a modest climb toward the middle of the league in that area would give Staal’s expanded role a visible impact.
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